>Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 14:45:50 -0500
>From: Allison Sloan <alsloan@mailroom.com>
>
>Just wanted to add some other practical tips on how to avoid chemicals
>in plastics used for food storage.
>
>Studies have found that all the plastics commonly used for food
>packaging can leach, so the safest bet is to store foods in Pyrex-like
>glass or Corningware-type ceramic when possible, and to avoid heating or
>
>microwaving foods in plastic. Also, since most grocery stores use PVC
>for their cling-wrapped cheeses and meats, you may want to trim off the
>outer layer of these pre-packaged foods to reduce ingestion of DEHA,
>which has caused reproductive effects and liver tumors in test animals.
>Canned foods, which can contain traces of bisphenol-A from the plastic
>inner lining of the can, may also be a source of concern.
>
>However, if by "safer" plastics you mean those that have not YET (to my
>knowledge) been found to be leaching chemicals that are suspected
>hormone disruptors, they are the following (if anyone on the listserv
>has evidence to the contrary, please correct me). Only bottles and
>containers are identified by recycling codes, but we (Mothers & Others)
>have received information about plastics used from manufacturers of some
>
>unlabeled packaging as well.
>#1: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE or PET), used to bottle soda pop,
>most bottled water and cooking oils, juice, salad dressings, peanut
>butter, etc.
>#2: High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), a cloudy or opaque plastic used
>for milk jugs, most one-gallon water bottles, and to bottle some foods.
>#4: Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is used for MOST (for other brands,
>see PVC) cling wraps and food storage bags, such as Glad wrap,
>Handi-Wrap, and
>Ziploc and Glad bags.
>#5: Polypropylene (PP) is a cloudy or opaque plastic used to make many
>deli soup containers, most Rubbermaid containers, cloudy plastic baby
>bottles,
>ketchup bottles, and other clouded plastic food bottles.
>
>Plastics that you may want to avoid because they have been found to
>leach suspected hormone disruptors are below:
>#3: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC or vinyl) is used to make Reynolds Wrap and
>Polyvinyl Films (Stretchtite and Freezetite brands) cling wraps and is
>the cling
>wrap of choice for most grocery stores. PVC can also turn up in the
>plastic trays in
>boxed cookies or chocolates, in candy bar wrappers, and occasionally as
>bottles for grocery items, including large Bertolli Lucca olive oils,
>64-ounce Wesson Cooking Oil, and Appalachian Mountain spring water,
>among others. Some plastic squeeze bottles are made of PVC as well.
>#6: Polystyrene (PS) is most familiar to consumers in its inflated form
>as Styrofoam, but non-inflated plastic PS can be found in some brands of
>disposable plastic cups and bowls and in most opaque plastic cutlery.
>#7: "Other” resins, most typically polycarbonate, from which bisphenol-A
>
>can migrate. Most plastic baby bottles are made of polycarbonate, as are
>5-gallon
>water bottles, clear plastic "sippy" cups for kids, and some brands of
>clear plastic
>cutlery. Other possible sources of bisphenol-A exposure include the
>inner lining of food cans and dental sealants.
>
>Allison Sloan
>(former staff member) Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet
>
>
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Ted Smith
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
Campaign for Responsible Technology
760 N. First Street
San Jose, CA 95112
408-287-6707-phone
408-287-6771-fax
tsmith@igc.org
http://www.svtc.org/svtc/
=========================================
Food for thought:
How Gandhi Defined the Seven Deadly Sins
· Wealth without work
· Pleasure without conscience
· Knowledge without character
· Commerce without morality
· Science without humanity
· Worship without sacrifice
· Politics without principle